Here’s how it works: Each week from June 14 to Aug. 16, teenagers 13 to 19 years old are invited to choose any piece in The New York Times they like and write to tell us why it interested them.
We will then choose a weekly favorite to feature, just as we have done every summer since 2010.

Sure, it’s an easy way to add more nonfiction (or “informational text”) to a school’s summer reading list, but because contestants
can choose any article they want, on any topic from North Korea to Justin Bieber, we hope it also offers a bit of fun.

Below, you will find everything you need to know to participate. Please spread the word.

So whether you were moved by an article, enlightened by an essay, bowled over
by a photo, irked by an editorial, intrigued by a feature or inspired by a how-to, tell us what got your attention and why. We are open to pretty much any response that follows our commenting rules and is 350 words or fewer.

— We will post the same Student Opinion question for every Friday, starting June 14. Each will ask, “What Interested You Most in The
Times This Week?” That is where you should post your picks (and reasons) any time until the next Friday. Then we will close that post and open a new one with the same question.

As soon as the contest starts, we will also keep an up-to-date link to at the top of this page leading to that week’s question. If you bookmark this page, you can always find the link to the place to post an
answer.

— Feel free to participate each week, but we allow only one submission per person per week.

— The contest is open to teenagers only — anyone from 13 to 19 years old, from anywhere in the world.

— Each response should be 350 words or fewer. (To check, you can paste yours into an online word-count tool like this one before you submit it.)

— Give us your first name only, in accordance with our privacy rules. No last names, but please also post your age and hometown.

— Make sure to provide us with a full headline (For example, “Popcast: Lil Wayne, Sobriety and the Damage Done”)
or the URL(s), or Web address(es), of the Times material you choose so others can find them easily. To find a URL, just copy and paste what comes up at the top of the page in your browser. This post’s URL,
for example, is //learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/18/the-fourth-annual-new-york-times-summer-reading-contest/.

— Teachers: If you want all the students in a particular class to write in, just give them a code of some kind to affix to their first names. Last year, for instance, we
received many with DHAP2013 appended to first names.

You might also consider telling students that it will be their responsibility when they return to school in the fall to provide a list of links to each of their comments. Each comment has its own unique URL, which can
be found by clicking “link” in the upper left-hand side of any individual comment. For instance, here is LainieMHS2012’s winning comment from last summer.

Photo

Credit Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

Q.

When should I check to see whether my submission won?

A.

Every Monday, we will publish a previous week’s winner or winners in a separate post. We will also mention the winners on Twitter and Facebook.

Q.

How do I participate in this contest if I don’t have a digital subscription?

A.

NYTimes.com has a digital subscription system in which readers have free access to 10 articles each month. If you exceed that limit, you will be asked
to become a digital subscriber.

One thing you should know, however, is that The Learning Network and all its posts, as well as all Times articles linked from them, are accessible without a digital subscription.
That means that if you use any of the articles we have linked to on this blog for summer reading, they will not count as part of the 10-article limit. And you can use anything published in 2013.

We also create a collection each month that may be a particularly good source for you: in our Teenagers in The Times collection, we round up all
the articles, essays and multimedia about young people published that month on NYTimes.com.

At the end of last summer’s contest, one participant, LainieMHS2012, complimented
us on reaching “both the less educated and exposed reader as well as the reader who is seeking an engaging and enlightening read” via the contest. She then wrote:

Reading material over the summer would otherwise consist of that one required book in the middle of an ocean of Facebook news feeds and, if we’re lucky, reads about summer romance and carelessness. But a
beach read, while not detrimental, is, figuratively, a grain of sand as compared to the literary value of a piece of good journalism.

As many readers know, in the United States the new Common Core Standards demand that students read much more nonfiction, or “informational text,” across subject areas. Because pretty much everything in The Times fits that definition, our reading contest is one way to practice.
But because our contest also offers students choice about what to read and how to respond to it, we hope it is also a way for them to engage with the world and discover, on their own, what ideas, trends and issues
they care about.

Lainie’s kind words are echoed by the Op-Ed writer and middle school reading enrichment teacher Claire Needell Hollander, who recommended last summer that, along with reading for pleasure, students should also focus on “accessible nonfiction guaranteed to increase world and verbal knowledge.” She gives a list of books that fit the bill, then writes:

Summer assignments should be about why we need to learn and why we need to talk about what we think. We have to move students away from disgust at the unknown, at the horrors visited on other human beings, and toward
sympathy. Students who have immersed themselves in real-world problems become excited by current events and history as well as literature. They can make connections between academic areas that are ordinarily
divided. They will understand Dickens better for having read “Iqbal,” which tells the story of a boy who is sold into slavery at a carpet factory.

Reading serious nonfiction in the summer is an immersion in the world of necessary ideas.

So consider immersing your students in “the world of necessary ideas” by inviting them to read The Times weekly for our contest.

We can’t wait to hear what they have to say.

Good luck, and please post any questions you may have below. We will add the link at the top of this post on June 14 when the contest opens.

Update: Here is our panel of judges, a group of fellow young-adult literacy organizations that will each choose a winner for one week of the nine-week contest. In chronological
order, they are:

I didn’t fully understand what we have to do to participate. Do you have to specifically send the entry over email or can you send it in regular mail to? Also can you also use the newyork times newspaper
at the store. One last concern is so it could be any article at all in the newspaper that week of the entry? Thank you!

Hi Destiny–Thank you for asking! The contest hasn’t started yet, but when it does we’ll post a special Student Opinion question every week, and that’s the place where you should post your weekly answer. (We’ll put the link in this post every week as well.) You can use The New York Times wherever you find it, in print, online, on your phone, via a link, and it can be any article, photo, video, podcast or graphic published in 2013. Just make sure you give us the headline or URL so we can find it! Thanks for participating. –Katherine

Hi Katherine, Wondering if the contest age could be lowered to 11 year olds in the future? I teach 6th grade and have many students who would welcome the challenge of this contest and would benefit from the
rigor of the reading and writing over the summer. Thanks,
Wendy

Hi Wendy–I wish we could, but I’m afraid, legally, we can’t. By COPPA rules, students have to be 13 or older to post comments here. However, you’d of course be welcome to assign a version of the contest yourself, then write in and tell us how it went. We love to hear from teachers about how they’ve used The Times–especially if, like yours, their students are a different demographic than our usual audience. Thank you for teaching with The Times, and happy summer!–Katherine

What a great idea! I’m passing this along to others in in the Lif for Life partnership here (Syr.NY) We’re looking for ways to bridge the lieracy gap in our community. This idea can be used with our
local newpapers and magazines as well!

Connie Gregory Lit’ for Life Syracuse NY
Thanks, Connie! Let us know if any local papers adopt the idea, too. –Katherine

Teacher question again – is there anyway to sort the comments by name, article, etc.?

(All of our upperclassman English and Social Studies staff are looking at using this as part of our summer reading program and we are just trying to figure out how to most easily give the students credit for their
work.) Thank you for your help!
Hi Tara–We’re thrilled to hear this! I wish we could make it easier for you, but, unfortunately, there’s really no way to search for a student’s comment, or to sort by article. But, in thinking about this, we all agree that asking your students to post with a school code, then in the fall to provide their teachers with a list of the hyperlinks to all the comments they make this summer, should be very helpful to you. That way you can easily click through and see who posted when, on what story, etc. But I’d love to invite you to contact me via e-mail at schulten@nytimes.com to talk about this more. I’d even be happy to speak on the phone since it’s helpful to us to think this through with teachers, too. –Katherine

This is such a great idea! Wish I could participate, but my students are too young.

I’d like to point out a glaring grammatical error in the article above: “Each comment has it’s own unique URL…” It’s not “it’s; it’s “its.”
Happy summer reading, everyone!
Hi Jacqueline–Thanks for the comment, and for pointing out our error. Fixed! –Katherine

Hi I just had two questions 1. Does it matter what article you use? 2. Will there be a link on the contest date (June 14) that brings us to where we sumit are response? Thankyou!

Hi Karen:

1) Nope. Any article you want, though it must have been published in 2013.
2) Yes. Each week we’ll post the updated link to the new spot to submit at the top of this post so you can always just return to this page to find it.
3) Thanks for asking, and so glad you’re participating!

If a student is recognized by the New York Times (quite a big deal for many students) is there a certificate or any special recognition that could be printed out for a student’s portfolio?

Thanks for providing a great resource for students.

Ginny

Hi Ginny–We haven’t ever done that before, but it’s a good idea. We’ll discuss this internally and I’ll both e-mail you and post our answer here when we have one. Thanks for asking, and for participating. –Katherine

In “Nicks Returns, but Cruz Doesn’t” from the New York Times, Dan Duggan describes the issues Nicks had when he was not able to practice after his knee surgery and other effects that affected
him. This article interests me because I like reading about football and it motivates me in my life. Reading this article is important to me because how strong football players recover in an injury, when they
have difficulties. Reading more and more about football will get my knowledge and motivation up. Dakota,Age 15, Cross City, Fl DakotaDCHSENG10

The article “A.M.A. Recognizes Obesity as a Disease” really caught my attention. The article states that The American Medical Association has officially recognized obesity as a disease, this is a move
that could persuade physicians to pay more attention to the condition and get more insurers to pay for treatments. Obesity can possibly lead to Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Type 2 diabetes is a is a metabolic
disorder that is characterized by high blood glucose in the context of insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency. Dr. Patrice Harris, a member of the association’s board, said this in a statement,
“Recognizing obesity as a disease will help change the way the medical community tackles this complex issue that affects approximately one in three Americans,” this means that the parents of those
children who have obesity issues should start focusing on what their children eat, because im pretty sure they don’t want their children to be one of those three Americans who have Type 2 diabetes or
heart disease. While i was reading through the article i came about an advocate for obese people and publisher of the online Downey Obesity Reporter, named Morgan Downey, who said “I think you will probably
see from this physicians taking obesity more seriously, counseling their patients about it,” i think this is a great idea because it will teach the patients and their kids about this new disease called
“Obesity”. This new idea will put kids and their parents aware of what are the right foods to eat. The Obesity Society classified Obesity as a disease in 2008. Some medical problems resulting from
Obesity are Diabetes, Hypertension, Heart disease, Stroke, Certain cancers, including: breast and colon, also Depression and Osteoarthritis. Some ways to prevent Obesity is to exercise regularly, and eat healthier
foods. The Obesity rates between the ages 6 to 11 have increased from 7% to nearly 20% in 2008. However, in 2010 their were estimates that showed obesity rates slightly declined to 14.94 percent, and the percentage
of extreme obesity dropped to 2.07 percent of U.S. kids in 2010. This article interested me because i think its really sad how people especially kids are obese in such a low age. I think the schools have part
of the blame because of the foods they serve the kids, but also the kids and parents take part of the blame because they’re not aware of the foods their children are consuming.

The article that intrigued me the most this week was, “With Treetop Trail, Philadelphia Zoo Opens Grounds to Prowlers”. First of all, this article was very eye catching because of its title. The first
time I read the headline, I imagined lions and monkeys roaming the zoo at all times. The image that I created in my mind seemed amazing, but at the same time somewhat dangerous. Throughout the article, the
writer makes it clear that the Philadelphia Zoo’s primary mission is to create awareness for conservation and stimulate wild life for animals. According to this article, the animals, such as lemurs and
monkeys are able to wander thanks to treetop trails. As to this point, the zoo is still in its first stage, but on their last stage they are planning to have larger animals to take advantage of their new trail
system. Although the cost for the treetop trails was quite expensive ($5.8 million), I strongly believe that this initiative is worth it. Like Dr. Boyle mentioned, this measure creates a win-win situation. As
for the visitors, they get to enjoy their visit and be amazed my the animals roaming the zoo. In regards to the zoo animals, despite the fact that they are being kept captive they are gaining mobility thanks
to the trails. Together with this, comes experiencing new scenarios like in the wild. Which will help the animals find more things to do and not be bored. I find this very interesting because thanks to this
new project now people will have a different perspective on zoos. For instance a woman named Robin DeLisser stated, “I have a problem with animals being caged”, but then she affirmed “This
gives them mobility”. In conclusion, I found this article to be the most fascinating because it shows what people are capable of achieving just to help animals and improve their welfare. MelisaAHS2013APES
16
Salinas, CA

The article “Tablets in Dutch schools usher in a new Era” it’s a really interesting article. What caught my attention of this article is that it talks about how Dutch schools are using technology
for their education. As I was reading the article I was thinking technology is for sure changing education. I like the fact that Mr. Smorenberg a teacher cites” the use of educational apps has become
integrated part of their school life”. Also public schools in Netherlands are deciding to fund ipads. I like the way that technology is motivating students to learn ,while in the on the other hand people
might think that technology in school could be a distraction. But the article clarifies that this students are not just going to use their ipads the whole day. It’s amazing how this article is emphasizing
the great values of technology. The students have the privilege to take their ipads home and work on educational apps. What I have learned about this article it’s that technology could make a big difference
in our education and having the opportunity to learn in different ways. Technology is a powerful tool for education. Students should take advantages of these opportunities. Our lives are changing, we are seeing
incredible things with technology and it’s becoming a part of our lives. Education needs different tools to learn and motivations but the most important thing is to motivate yourself. Technology is helping
us to learn more things and being determined. Using technology in school is getting great results how students are improving in subjects. Now is the time, the opportunity to take the stand of creating a new
generation of education in the whole world with technology. This why I liked this article it’s really inspiring . Do you think technology is a great tool to use in education? FabiolaAHS2013APES
16
Salinas,CA

“Where is Everyone? Try a Tracking App” is better described as “For unwary parents – Try a Tracking App”. While the perks of tracking apps are evident – finding family members
who may get lost on a cruise ship – tracking apps are not as good as they seem to be.

Everything that can be tracked can just as easily be untracked. There are many things a devious child can do to prevent themselves from being tracked. If a child “forgets” his/her phone at home,
parents will think the child is at home. If the phone is off or dead, it can’t be tracked. Because these apps require a phone signal for tracking, a flip of a power button or switch to airplane mode will
make the child impossible to track. If parents choose to use a certain downloaded app, it requires the child to download that app. Because the deletion of apps does not require a password, any child wishing
to avoid detection can simply delete the app and fly under the radar. Many phones nowadays have the wireless carrier’s location services app. This app, while meant to find phones lost phones can and
have been used by parents to track the whereabouts of their children. While this app can’t be deleted, the owner of the phone can turn off the location services, therefore making it impossible for the
parent to track the child.

I know what you’re thinking. There’s no maneuver here that a parent can’t admonish their child to not commit. But that’s exactly the point. Instead of telling your child, “Don’t
turn off the locator services,” why can’t parents cut the euphemism and tell their child, “don’t go anywhere off limits,” instead of trying to spy on them.

Tracking apps are simply not all they seem to be. The single deed a tracking app performs can easily be thwarted through a multitude of methods. Tracking apps also allow parents to forgo a potentially meaningful
conversation with their child, which harms the parent-child relationship. “For wary parents– steer away from Tracking Apps”.

Man, the ocean is just full of details and little organisms that blow my mind. Miss. C. Drew Harvell, the Curator of Blaschka Invertebrates Collection, explained so vividly how the ocean is full of little things
that are amazing, and vibrant that people usually pass by and don’t even notice. I agree with her that they should go out and find all of the organisms that the Blaschka’s had so beautifully reconstructed.
They should go out and find the exact replicas of the Blaschka’s reconstructed figurines. The creations of the Blaschka’s were so lively, and extraordinary. Especially since the tiny yet vivid
sculptures were made in the 1860’s. The little figures of the soft bodied marine animals and sea slugs were so detailed and beautiful. They looked so realistic. It was amazing to me how the tiny glass
sculptures had survived such a long period of time in a museum storage space. The tiny figurines look like they jumped right out of the ocean and into the show cases; they look fantastic for their age. I agree
with Mr. David O. Brown, a photographer, people don’t pay attention to the little things; they pay attention to the big things such as a whale or shark. No one pays attention to the little star fish,
sea slugs, crabs and phosphorescent unicelled organisms that flood our sea. I believe that the little organisms are the ones that should really count, and they aren’t credited for anything. They are the
ones that clean the dead skin off of fish and keep them healthy, they are the ones that make the ocean healthy and free off parasites that are deadly to the bigger fish, whales, and birds. They are more vibrant
and bountiful than most any other animal in the ocean. In my opinion, these little organisms count and I believe that they should look for them and hand them the spotlight.

Danger is the word that is being described when talking about the human Papilloma virus. In the article, “HPV Vaccine Is Credited in Fall of Teenagers’ Infection Rate” it states that,”has
dropped by half among teenager’s girls in recent girls. It also states that, ’’there are about 12000 cases of cervical cancer and 4000 deaths a year in the United States. What is said in
the facts, I believe that the vaccine is a positive effect. People may think that it is not ‘’correct’’ for teenagers to get this vaccine. By having this generation taking the vaccine
as teenagers it not only prevents them by getting a virus by sex; it benefits them in the future with cancer. Imagine a whole generation with low rates of cancer hundredths’ of people would be alive.
Sure maybe a child would not have relationships’ thru out her whole life but its helps in the future not only the present. Also in the same article it states that,” About 79 million Americans,
most in their late teens and early 20s, are infected with HPV, or about a quarter of the American population, ”Parents, in my opinion think that their children in this case would not get this virus. Why?
Because as parents they do not know everything about their child and the things they do when they are not with them. As said the article clearly states that,”Many parents do not believe their child is
at risk because they are not sexually active, but she said that she explains that vaccination should happen long before exposure.” Yes, I am aware that there are some side effects but it is not proven
founded. Girls should be aware of vaccines available to prevent dramatic changes on their lives and having it regret it and live with the virus.

Found within the U.S section of the New York Times, I was immediately intrigued by the article “Strategist Out of Closet and Into Fray, This Time for Gay Marriage” by Sheryl Gay Stolberg. Stolberg
writes about the story of a once closeted-gay, Republican, Ken Mehlman and the affects of him coming out to his fellow republican community. Although a bit disappointing, it was of no surprise that many people
were outraged by this. From people with his own political views to ones that opposed such, he was referred to as a hypocrite who went against everything he once believed in.

Upon reading this document, I was quite surprised by how someone who once stood behind Mr.Bush in his campaign against same-sex marriage now had a completely opposing view on the issue. As a strong-democrat with
many conservative friends, gay-marriage is a constant conflict within our friend group. It appears to be a challenge for many of them to wrap their minds around the thought of two people of the same gender forming
a relationship other than that of friendship. Although the article was a bit shocking, it provided me with a newfound appreciation for the one-third of republicans that support gay marriage. Contrary to general
opinion on the matter, I think it’s amazing that Mehlman had the courage to come out as a republican and that he is now working on plans such as Project Right Side, his nonprofit organization that supplied
statistics for every Republican presidential campaign in the 2012 presidential race.

Obesity One of the greatest controversy in the US is the obesity in the people that don’t have a healthy diet. Studies say that the offspring of the mother will determine how the offspring will be when
its and adult. Doctors argue that people that suffer from obesity could have a greater risk on having a heart attack. Studies probe that if a person walk for about 20 minutes they can burn 100 calories that
they have consumed. People that consume fatting food and don’t exercise have more rick on having health problems. In pregnancy if the mother is skinny and doesn’t eat much then the baby in the
future can suffer of obesity. Not much people know what is the correct meals that they have to consume to maintain a healthy life. People that consume food don’t know how to read the labels on the packaging.
The most a person exercise they can have a healthy life style. In the US the government stated that people should at least exercise for about 30 minutes a day. In 2005 the state change the time of a person taking
its time to exercise for approximately 60 to90 minutes a day. Obese people mostly consume junk food or food from restaurants that contain to much calories instead of healthier food. The US many people suffer
from obesity because there is to many places that sale junk food or fatting food. In other places that sale fatting food cancel the calories information in their menus and this is more difficult for a person
to know how much calories they are consuming when they go out and eat. My opinion on the restaurants that cancel their calories information I think that its not good for people to eat things without know what
they are consuming every time they go and purchase out in places. Liliana G Salinas CA AHS2013APES
//www.nytimes.com/ref/health/healthguide/esn-obesity-ess.html

Denied Abortion Abortion is a great contradiction in the world. Some people believe abortion is a murder and a sin, other people believe its not considered murder because the baby is not born. In my opinion
abortion can be legal and illegal it depends in the situation. Some abortion clinics have denied woman’s request for many reasons. For example, lack of funds, obesity, but simply arrive too late. A woman
may want to get an abortion, because she feels she is not ready, or she has no support of anybody. I believe the only reason a woman can get an abortion is when they been sexually assaulted. “Planned
parenthood clinic in Richmond California,” changed S. mind about abortion by showing her, her baby in the ultrasound. Maybe S. was a little get the abortion done, but this helped her see it doesn’t
matter how having a baby might affect her life she is still going to have it. After S. was thinking she was not ready to have a baby she realized that abortion is a way of killing an innocent person. I believe
if a couple is ready to have sexual relationships they should be ready for any consequences that may come up. The child has all the right to be born because they don’t have any of the fault his/her parents
were irresponsible. People all around the world have different aspects about abortion. I believe that there is always going to be a great contradiction of abortion if it’s legal or illegal. If abortion
is illegal the woman will always find a place where she can aboard her unborn baby. People who try to help those young woman who are uneducated about abortion may change that person perspective about abortion
too bad to good. I believe the more years pass the more people are trying to educate about sexual intimacy in a younger age. This might be good because this is showing young children that having a sexual intimacy
can cause serious consequences.